Monday, July 28, 2014

Hope that all of you had a great week! Shout out to Sister
Lightheart who now has two months in the mission! I have a lot of fun telling people
that I have a sister in the field. Keep
on working hard, Sis!

It’s nothing to compare with my companion though. He actually has two siblings in the mission:
a sister in Chile and a brother in Oaxaca.
It is awesome to see how the Lord is hastening the work. It has been fun serving with Elder Castañeda. So far, he is a bit more serious than Elder
Struthers, but we still get along really well.
He is a great worker and a great teacher.

We had a really good week, even though everyone is on
vacation. We spent a lot of time
knocking on people’s doors and having them not be there. Despite that, we had a lot of lessons. The
best part was that we now have an interview set with Arturo for next week! He
had been feeling a bit unsure about his baptism but we helped him to realize
that he is ready and that he has already made the necessary changes.

Paul and his family continue to be great. They were definitely prepared to listen to
the gospel. They were one of those people
who searched for the truth but knew not where to find it. They are really excited about learning
more. My favorite is his son, Angelo. In
four days, he read eleven chapters in the Book of Mormon. He is only 8! He did understand it about like
an 8-year-old, but he loves it. His
daughter, Jahanna, is already eager to learn and is really attentive to the Spirit. Hopefully, we will be able to baptize them by
the end of the month.

We have a ton of investigators right now. It is so much fun to be running all over the
place teaching them!

Tuesday, July 22, 2014

Another transfer gone by.I said good-bye to Elder Struthers yesterday.I imagine that right now he is on a plane somewhere over Texas. You will all be able to talk with him pretty soon actually.

Well, the best news is that I am staying in Mirador for another transfer.Looks like I will be here at least until September.I am really happy to stay here with these members.I know that my new companion and I are going to have a lot of success.My companion is going to be Elder Castañeda. My life is going to get a little more crazy though.I am now going to be the Zone leader of 24 missionaries.The two zones are going to be combined into one zone and we will be the zone leaders for both of them.

We also had a baptism this week!! On Thursday, we got a call from Sister Kathy.She called us to tell us that Yumara wanted to get baptized on Saturday.It was really awesome.Her cousin, the first counselor, Juan Carlos, did the baptism and the confirmation.It was really cool because we had a ward conference on Sunday and we were able to do the confirmation with it.The ward is getting really excited about missionary work.

Arturo came to church again! He is progressing really well.He really likes the church.He shows a lot of faith. We haven’t gotten to the point of teaching him the Word of Wisdom, but because of what he has seen in his wife and kids, he has stopped drinking coffee and alcohol.He feels like he doesn’t have enough knowledge but I know he will be ready for the baptismal date we have set with him for the 10th of August.

We also had a great lesson yesterday.We went to visit Paolo again but this time we were able to teach all of his family – his wife and three kids. While we were with them, we were talking about the family and hoe they can become a family for the eternities.The Spirit was really strong as we explained to them that as they follow the Gospel of Jesus Christ, they will be able to be together forever.We put a baptismal date with all of them for the 30th of August.

Another week, another letter.It is once again P-Day and I get a chance to write you all about the happenings here in Coatzacoalcos.

We had an awesome week.We were able to have a lot of success.Yumara is progressing well.Unfortunately, we were not able to do her baptism this week because she went to visit her family in Chiapas.She really loves the church though.She is taking part in our ward choir.We should be doing her baptism either this week or the next.

Miriam’s husband also came to church again.He really likes the church.He is a lot more happy now that he has been investigating.He tells us that the change that he has seen in his family is what is most helping him to want to go to church.We have baptismal date with him for the 26th of July.I know he can be ready by that point to join his family as a member of the Church.Probably the coolest part was that he paid tithing with his wife.

We had a really great lesson this week with Anabella’s sister, Nadxielly.We had taught her a couple of times but we haven’t seen her for about a month.When we got there, we decided to read 2 Nephi 2 with her.It was a really cool experience.As we were reading, she would ask us questions and all of her questions were answered within the chapter, It was really amazing to me how the Book of Mormon really answers our questions.Sometimes, it takes a bit of study, but other times, like this week, they come in the moment.

We also had a little miracle today actually.We got a call this morning from Hermano Mexicano (a brother in our ward).He told us that he wanted to go visit one of his friends with us. It was a little rough because we were washing, but we hustled and got everything done on time.We went with Hermano Mexicano to visit his friend Paolo.Paolo has cancer and he feels like there is something he is missing in his life.We were able to teach him about the Book of Mormon and the Plan of Salvation.He got really excited to learn and study.Then at the end, Hermano Mexicano gave him a priesthood blessing.The Spirit filled the room and we all just sat there in silence for a moment.All he could say was, “Gracias.” Even though he is sick and actually going to the hospital this week, he said that he would come to church.

The one issue was that while we were there, it started raining, and not just a little bit, but it was pouring.We were only like three blocks from our house so we knew that everything, our clothes, our hammocks, and a backpack that been left out to dry were going to be soaking wet.We came home expecting the worst, but found that almost everything was dry.We were able to take almost all of our clothes down right then.Who knows what happened, but with the wet ground full of puddles all around me, I felt like God was thanking me for taking time away from what I have to care for my own physical needs to care for one of his children’s spiritual needs.He took care of me so we could help Paolo.It may have been just a little miracle, but none the less, a show of my Father’s love for me.

Monday, July 7, 2014

Happy 4th of July! Hope you all had a great Independence Day. Elder Struthers and I celebrated by singing some American hymns.It was pretty fun.

Well anyway, this week mission-wise was fantastic.We had a lot of super spiritual lessons and a couple of miracles to go along with it.

Yumara went to church again.She had been progressing really well and it was great to see her at church.The best part didn’t actually happen until after church.We were rushing over to another appointment we had when we got a phone call from Hermana Anita, the recently returned missionary in our ward.She called to ask if Yumara could change her baptismal date! She told us that Yumara had gotten an answer to her prayer and wants to be baptized this Friday!! We got super excited. We are going to have a baptism this week. It is great to see how the Spirit works in people and helps them to know the truth.

We were also teaching Hermana Miriam’s husband, Arturo, this week.He shows that he wants to learn, however, he feels that he doesn’t know enough.He never really has read the scriptures and even though others have come to teach him he had never read from those pamphlets either. This week, we went one night without much time.He told us that he had read.We then read the scripture in Ether 12:27 and we promised him that he can receive the knowledge he lacks if he would humble himself before God and ask.We then all knelt then together.I offered the prayer and then we all took a moment to say a personal prayer.We then asked him how he felt.He told us that he had felt the Spirit and that he felt that what we had taught was true! He now has baptismal date for the 26th of July.

It was a great week.I love it when the Spirit testifies of truth.The Spirit will help anyone who has an honest doubt to come to know the truth.

About

Elder Jonathan Lightheart is from Medford, Oregon. He left on November 7, 2012 to serve a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He was in Provo, Utah at the Mission Training Center until the first part of January and then served in the California San Fernando Mission until he broke his ankle on Janaury 18th. He returned home for four and a half months to have surgery and recover. He left to go down to Villahermosa Mexico on May 27th. He will serve there until March of 2015. This blog is a record of his mission and is maintained by his mother.

Elder Lightheart's Address

Elder Jonathan Martin Lightheart

You can send a letter to Elder Lightheart on the computer with dearelder.com. They print up the letter and send it in the pouch mail for free.